FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
41 
pack as closely as possible without injury 
to the fruit. If the pack runs too high 
or too low, don’t pass the box until it is 
made just right by changing some of the 
fruit. The sizer must be set according 
to the shape of the fruit and will occa¬ 
sionally require re-adjusting where the 
average shape changes, as it will do when 
running on different varieties or fruit 
from different soils. 
Close packs will not stand to pack as 
high as the looser ones. From half to 
three-quarters of an inch above the heads 
of the box, necessitating considerable 
pressure in putting on the cover, is about 
right if packed properly in the layers. If 
the boxes are trimmed with lace paper, 
it is best to paste it at the bottom of the 
box and pack the first two or three layers 
with the brand next to it, then stencil 
so that in opening, that side will be the 
cover. If an attractive display card for 
the retailer to hang in his store is put 
in, it helps the marketing. Everything 
that tends to give the impression of care 
and neatness about a packed box and its 
contents adds to the price the fruit will 
bring and increases the demand. I have 
my material gotten out to orders sent in 
May for fall delivery. Bead the edges of 
every side, use a handsome strap thick 
enough to allow air to circulate between 
the boxes, and a neat and tasty stencil 
or printer. Don’t hesitate to put time 
and labor into preparing your fruit for 
market, for there is where a good portion 
of the profit lies. Every large city con¬ 
tains one, two or three, seldom more, 
fruit dealers who handle only fancy stock 
and they have customers who care little 
for the price they pay but are only satis¬ 
fied with the very best fruits obtainable. 
These are the houses that purchase from 
the man who puts intelligent work into 
his products; they are the ones that pay 
a dollar, two dollars or even more above 
the top quotations and never find more 
than they want of the kind that pleases 
them. There are only about three houses 
of this kind in New York, our largest 
city. The others pay the prices quoted, 
but they will pay more for the second 
grade or for the poorer sizes of the man 
who supplies the best trade than they will 
for the best fruit of the careless shipper. 
The shipper who caters to the best 
trade is not apt to be the one who ships 
one, two or more cars a day, but he may 
employ as many hands as one who does 
and give them work four months each 
season, help his town as much and net 
as much profit as his neighbor who has 
several times hTs acreage and crop. The 
man who makes and markets his crop at 
a cost of $1.25 and gets $1.50 for it makes 
a clear profit of 25 cents. He who sells 
for $3.00 makes five times as much net 
gain, if we allow 25 cents for added com¬ 
mission and cost of preparation, and there 
will be a short time almost every season 
when he will gross six or seven dollars 
per box for his best grades and sizes. 
At these prices, the small grower of only 
a few thousand boxes, and groves not 
so large but that he can handle them prop¬ 
erly and protect them in case of danger, 
may have quite a satisfactory income, 
while he escapes much of the anxiety and 
loss of the large grove owner who can¬ 
not give the close personal supervision 
necessary to the very best work. I am 
a believer in small groves, but there are 
individuals who are built for big things 
and can carry them on successfully, 
though they seldom reach the top of the 
market. 
The matter of agencies through which 
to market is one that I will leave mostly 
